Life is full of processes--whether overarching life processes, or small, almost menial processes that get us through the day. The way we view the end goal, the way we get there, largely depends on the means of getting there. So many times, the journey along the way is ignored or largely glossed over, ignoring the details that make the end result so meaningful.
For our process piece, we wanted to try and capture the way that small processes carry on through the peaceful, meandering pace taken to get things done. An example of this pacing was in the video “The Smokehouse”, which showed small processes and details that made up what was eventually a lifestyle. We aimed at creating a piece that adequately showed certain aspects of a bigger picture just like the video. Ultimately, this led to our deciding what to record: rock climbers ascending walls while concurrently narrating their experience and giving insights. Although not experienced in the art ourselves, we were able to record the sounds and ambience that make up what we saw as an insightful and exciting narrative inside the world of rock climbing. We got ample audio footage of the two brothers, Mark and James, talking back and forth while ascending the rocks. Their quirky commentary helped guide the direction of where the process would go. They provided a sort of narration for the piece that helped form the beginning, middle, and end.
When we were on location recording the sounds, we were given a lot of options as to where we could take this assignment. We could tell the process of experiencing a day at the rock climbing facility with many different characters involved in the story, or we could stick to a more dynamic direction with the two above-mentioned climbers. We decided to get a lot of recordings of the two of them communicating with each other and with us. This led to a sort of mold for the post production stage. We edited the sound bits in a way that first established ambience then dove into the rest of the story process. After the establishing sounds, we added in commentary from Mark saying that he had his brother there to make sure he didn’t fall or, in correct terms, to belay. This was followed by sounds that were meant to be perceived as a climber climbing up a wall. The rest that followed was back-to-back coaching and comments between the brothers explaining what they were doing and why they were doing it. In between the brothers, we can be heard giving small dialogue, eventually leading to the closing dialogue of the refusal of a suggested climb for the two us.
While taking the time to record and edit this process, we were able to modify the way we view reaching the end result. There is great success and appreciation when we exalt the common practice. The process is not something most people take notice of, but it is through the small--sometimes slow-paced details, that the bigger purposes are given to rise.
Jessi Parker and Marely Lee
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